Well hope the best for you. I know it’s got to be hard with limited use of your arm. I have two severed rotator cuff tendons in my right shoulder and can’t do much above my chest with my right hand and have to use my left hand to raise it up to eat or scratch my ear.
Wishing you a quick and full recovery. Your attitude will certainly help to carry you through the difficult days of rehab. Many have been able to regain full control over time. You will learn to adapt and still be able to enjoy the hobby even if you don't get back to 100%... it's a great hobby which will help you recover... be patient but tenacious to get better. Follow doctors orders... which I'm sure the missus' will re-enforce that.
A little progress update. Therapy is bounding along with three different sets of therapists working on this old run hard put away wet body. I have the good fortune to have picked ones of the best if not the best team in the area and now have about 20% of my strength back. Fatigue continues to be an issue and will for quite some time. As an interesting note I took the last car I was working on in with me to the occupational session for a reference of where and what I was trying to restore in my motor skills. That led to the suggestion that I bring in some of my modeling tools for a reference point. Hmm don't think a Dremel is a good starting point. But it does have me thinking about which tools I use most and requires the most dexterity. For the last week I have been undergoing a type of electric stimulus therapy where electrodes are attached to both sides of my face to retrain the muscles there. That way I can use those special words when something messes up like nottafinga.
Glad to hear of your progress, John. Please keep at it regardless of the slowness and frustration, you're fun to have around. Tools...consider taking your pin vice & #80 drill bit, some 48 AWG wire for handrails, and an engine to put them on. Oh yeh, don't forget the Optivisor and two pair of needle-nose. That should really give your therapists a challenge.
John, glad to hear that you're getting better....maybe a Exacto knife and blade, a fine file, sand paper, styrene, windows and doors and build a simple warehouse....worst case scenario, if it turns out bad, you can at least sniff the glue
As far as any building material or kits that is out. The object would be to see the level of manual dexterity I need to re-acquire just to be able to use the tools again with any level of skill. One of the things I was doing yesterday involved setting small beads on a board with lines of small projections, skipping every other one. Then going back and filling in the blanks without upsetting the whole apple cart. Also managing to pick up short two inch long sticks and rotating them to stick upright into some putty just using two fingers. Sort of like a 1 year old just learning hand eye co-ordination and managing to hit my mouth with the food and not my forehead. I am determined to get back as much as I can and as I said have a excellent team helping. But I have to also be realistic in that I may not ever get back to my former level or even close enough to be able to handle the small stuff with N scale. Two more months of five days a week and I will probably know enough to decide my future course.
Don't give up, John! I'm still working on manual dexterity after hand surgery in May, almost six months ago. My left hand got to about 85 % a few months ago, and now is at about 90%, and still improving. My right hand probably reached 80% just a few weeks ago, then jumped to 85% almost overnight. Things still aren't completely right, and therapy still hurts more than I ever imagined, but I'm still plugging away six months after the insult.
Sounds like you are doing occupational therapy. My wife is an occupational therapist. I here some real success stories from her. I bet yours will be another. *S*
John, I am glad to hear that you are making good progress. It does take time but as long as you stay the course you will be happy with the results.
That plus regular PT and speech therapy with three teams on different days. Spent part of today out looking for weights so I can continue at home. After about four stops finally found a decent set that the weight is adjustable. Having to learn to swallow all over again and in the process have lost ten pounds that I can do without anyway and really need to lose more. I measure my progress by what would normally be considered small insignificant things that we take for granted. I am still drawing and revising layout plans and that is getting a little better as I get more control, albeit slowly. I still have to be a realist that as I and my eyes age, and as to whether I can get back up to my set standards, whether I stay in this scale or have to get something larger that I can see and handle. So my next project in design will be a small operation interchanging with a branch line maybe HOn3 so I can use some of my N scale track. Just typing this little tidbit is still a chore with this having taken all of about 25 minutes to type.
John- If using N track, that would actually be HOn30. HOn30 is quite different from HOn3. I understand the typing issues. Ever since my illness of 2009, that has been a change in my life. Sometimes having to re-type and correct numerous times to get a very short message out. I was dyslexic before that, and thereafter it multiplied in magnitude. Ugh. Keep chopping away at it!
Yes my old brain sometime confuses the two. And two trains of thought going whether if circumstances dictate a switch to either scale. One would be I would still be dealing with the smallness of N scale in some aspects, most important the mechanisms, or just go up to the next size. There is more in HON3 that would be larger and have more variety. Then the next step could be to Horribly Oversized scale. But the thought of the narrow rails interchanging with the standard branch would give me a much simpler layout.
There seems to be a good amount of R-T-R HOn3 out there. Blackstone, Kadee and so on. It's not an all brass or scratch build, hand-lay as it was once. But still costs a few dollars more than N. With HOn30, OTH, you do have a good amount of stuff already at hand via your N scale stuff. There is a fair selection of kits, plus stuff via the Shapeways route. I like it as there is a certain amount of whimsy, and so much free lance. Seems like something just made for an artist as yourself! Whatever route you choose, I am sure it will very interesting to continue following your modeling adventures!
John, I'll admit that what I'm suggesting is heresy, but consider a radical switch to O-Scale, or even G. The positives are more robust models and track, easier handling, and larger fabricating and maintenance tools. The negative is your existing N-Scale equipment. However, you're in an excellent market area for selling pre-owned N-Scale equipment. I believe you've mentioned some friendly LHS' in the DC/Baltimore Metro area. I'm praying you're successful making "lemonade". BTW, after my father's stroke, his biggest challenge and quickest recovery was re-learning to drink his evening glass of wine...without help !
Oh I wouldn't suggest heresy. In my case it isn't about getting things back as it is just how much I can recover. I've already made progress toward that end. A long talk about that this evening with my Wife who works with elderly care and stroke victims. This could take up to a year or more to get back just to 90% capacity. So I have to adjust my thinking. Not giving up on modeling but yet again having to change course and sail on a new tack. I don't want to even think about the large scales because I won't have the space for them to do anything that I would be happy with. I've looked at the On3 stuff and while I like the detail possible and the critters available will just take too much space. At the least I think dealing with steam will be done. A lot easier to handle a diesel mechanism than trying to quarter a steam locos drivers. And my steam critters all have diesel mechs under them. I'll have a better handle on the what, why, and when by the end of December.
John.... Still praying for you to have the speediest and the fullest recovery possible. BUT...if in the future you have to give up steam and go with diesels...let me be the first to welcome you to... THE DARK SIDE !! :closedmouth:
John, first I'm glad to hear your recovery is progressing forward. I went to Cockysville and Timonium and most of the usual suspects were there. I did see a couple new faces and someone had B-Mann 44-tonners for under $60. A lot of brass guys were there in force and I really wanted that HO CB&Q S4 in the Aeolus garb but it was a negotiable $850 and I'm not anywhere close to that. I ended up with some books and a bunch of un-run old K-MT cars, some of which will go to eBay to help pay for everything else. Overall, it looked like a good crowd but not packed. I escaped from Cockysville for under $15. As for changing scale, I dabble in Z, HOn3, and G with N being my primary focus so obviously I don't think anyone has to be locked into just one. Aside from being a little heavy, my G scale locomotives run like a rap . . . really well with little mechanical fuss. In HOn3, I got some of the Blackstone ProTraxx and gauge-wise, it is surprising similar to N gauge. I hope you don't mind the open letter format. Let me know if you need anything. Andy Tetsu Uma
A quick update today after a doctor visit and a sessions with one of my therapists. Progressing well at this time and continuing to get more use out of the affected arm and hand, specially the fingers. Most likely cause of my stroke was due to a small piece of plaque breaking off and making it into the old gray matter. All the high tech procedures and machine show minimal damage but the next five months are important to prevent another from happening. I guess the old boiler needs a good flush out to get rid of the scale caused by being run hard and put away wet and not drinking treated water, ahem. Therapist says that my mouth is almost level again and my speech is hardly slurred at all now and swallowing continues to improve. The real important one comes Thursday when I get the evaluation report on my hand strength as to improvement or not.
